School Days by Stanley Clarke - RYM/Sonemic (2024)

oldrock Oct 24 2021 ▼

As refreshing as a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice.

From the off Stanley Clarke hits the ball right out the park with Schooldays. I remember seeing him play this on the Old Grey Whistle Test back in the day. Never forgotten. This one crosses boundaries and no matter which side one is on, gotta love it. It’s even danceable.

Quiet Afternoon does what it says on the tin, this is the cool track, mellow piano and the mini moog comes out to play.

All bells and whistles, Brazilian beats hold the Dancer together and it’s just joyful.

Playtime over things get a little more serious with the moodily acoustic Desert Song.

It all perks up again with the short and snappy and even jazzy Hot Fun.

Life is Just a Game, is the big brassy grand finale, it’s time for the solos, Stanley Clarke opens his mouth and they all go for it. This is the dress to impress track, one to go out with a bang and they do but I’m not sure this showboating will have crossover appeal. Jazz fusion afficionados can have this one to themselves.

All in all, great stuff.

Published

88697848332 CD (2010)

JazzLoser Feb 07 2021

I have no idea how this went unrated until now. "School Days" is a summertime theme of mine from highschool, and then became my 6am alarm theme when school was in session. Alarm related PTSD aside, this is a fantastic example of how fun the pop side of jazz fusion could really be. Clarke is a monster on bass, among the greatest of his time. A nostalgia trip for me, but a great album in any case.

Published

NUTTERNORMINGTON Mar 15 2018

A slap bassist that I don't wanna slap. That in itself is a good start. The title track is a corker. School report related pun of your choice.....

Published

King_Insano Oct 10 2013

Mr. Clarke hit his peak a few years ago. I think he has improved a little over the previous one which made me pretty nauseous, but at the same time it's clear that jazz-fusion scapes have stagnated into funky jams round about this time in history and the former creativity has left the spheres of genre. This is a pretty predictable album where you have your mandatory hard-hitting tracks/"mini-epics"("School Days", "Life Is Just a Game") mixed with more mellow("Quiet Afternoon") and middle-weight funk ruminations("Hot Fun", "The Dancer"). If you're looking technically impressive bass plucking, then there's loads of that in the frames of this album, though the compositions themeselves aren't anything superb. I've got a serious distaste for Davis Sancious and his bland moog soloing; it's not just this album by the way.

The things to explore here might be the title track, where they've welded together some strong bass-lines and dynamic guitar parts and the surprising "bow" performance by Stanley in the middle of the album ("Desert Song") which displays some fresh ideas among the redundantly funky tides of the album. Nothing horrible, but far too safe to generate more exitement on my part.

Published

GeorgeX Sep 09 2013

One of the first fusion albums I got into back in the day. The title track could almost be considered a fusion standard. Super catchy riff, great playing by drummer Gerry Brown and guitarist Ray Gomez, and a jaw dropping solo by Stanley. Quiet Afternoon is another great track, with David Sancious on keys, who was putting out good solo albums himself at the time, and Steve Gadd, who played on albums for just about everyone who was any good in the 70s. The back half of the record has the funk workout Hot Fun, and the closing epic, Life is Just a Game. It has a small bit of vocal, usually the kiss of death for me on a fusion record, but it's hardly any, and Clarke actually has a pleasing voice. Billy Cobham is whippin it on drums, and Clarke takes another sick solo. One of my favorite songs and albums for 70s fusion

Published

MasterUvirith Aug 05 2013 ▼

Rating by Average: 4.5

Rating by Album: 4.7

Favourite 3 Songs: Quiet Afternoon, Hot Fun, Life is Just A Game.

Least Favourite 2: The Dancer, Desert Song

I stumbled upon Stanley Clarke many years ago whilst looking for different style bassists to emulate and broaden my own playing. Stanley Clark impressed me in live footage I had watched and I remember this album in fragments.

Re-evaluation time!

I was a huge fan of the title track: School Days and still am. It's a great showcase of the flow the group is capable of together and Stan himself shines without over indulging which is important. The Aside comes to its peak with the incomparable jam of Quiet Afternoon. The artists really know their parts and can execute fills and variances that are both pleasing and original. There were a lot of moments on The Dancer that went back to the title track but it stands on its own well. To me, there's just too much happening that isn't going anywhere.

The Desert song is a sober up energy wise but is still good. It drags on for me and doesn't really give me enough differentiating imagery for the time it took. Hot Fun is peak #2. Walks a fine line between Jazz-fusion and rock without just getting tiresome or cliche filled. I am pleased to say the peak does not end until the record closes. Life is Just a Game is almost 10 minutes but is so engaging it feels just as long as Hot Fun!

As a bassist I pretty much just sat here making gross noises for the whole album. Mr. Clarke knows his craft.

Published

Jazzoh Mar 19 2013

Bringing me back in time

The 70-ies, my years as a teen. The years of musicals, ABBA and here and there I heard something as funk or jazz-funk.
While on my way to discover the world of jazz this was my second album to buy as suggested by a list of Columbia classics. Vinyl still sounds so much better than cd's and the first notes of "School Days" sets my body in motion. Lovely music to listen to but also to dwell back in memory to those years.
"Quiet Afternoon" a bit more slow, but still funky in style followed by "The Dancer" : great rythms, and I can see a bunch of guys dancing with "bellbotoms" to the music!
The B-side is as good as the A-side, and those who have the cd-album version can sit and wait without turning the disk :-) The tracks turn from funky and dancable to slow and relaxing. The faster ones like "The Dancer" & "Hot Fun" obvious my favorites. It is a must for those who like funky music or even soul, but also any jazz-fan should be able to apreceate this album!

Published

SolidRaiden22 Feb 13 2013

Considered Stanley Clarke's most commercial album, although it's commercial without be anything less than a brilliant work of musical ingenuity. This is one of those Jazz-Fusion albums that feels larger than life, and also much more than the sum of its parts. It starts off relatively slow and hypnotic, picking up throughout with a calculated sense of rhythm before reaching a show-stopping conclusion in the appropriately titled "Life is Just a Game". Clarke's playing style is instantly catchy and engaging, and at no point during the album does he fail to capture both your attention and imagination. An essential Jazz/Rock record.

1. School Days - 10
2. Quiet Afternoon - 8
3. The Dancer - 10
4. Desert Song - 9
5. Hot Fun - 10
6. Life is Just a Game - 10

Published